Hi,
Welcome to the first “CRO Weekly Insight” newsletter edition. This is an extra CRO Weekly edition where I share one piece of content, off course related to experimentation. Not as you are normally used to, a collection of existing articles, but an article written by me. From now on I send this edition once per month.
Today’s topic: Icons.
The pros and cons of using icons
Icons are present on every website or app. They have become an integral part of online design. An icon is a visual representation that can enhance user experience and most of the times try to help users navigate through a website or app.
Menu icon
Over the past 10 years I have done several experiments around one of the most well-known icons online: the (usually 3) lines of the menu. This is often used instead of the text “Menu”.
Within online departments we often assume that visitors will understand that this is the menu. Several experiments I did have shown that the word “Menu” is essential for visitors to understand where the menu is located.
All “online savy people” within eCommerce departments know the meaning of the three stripes. However, they sometimes forget that there are also people visiting the website who are less familiar with these conventions.
Offline
To illustrate this with another (offline) example: icons are often used on the washing machine, the dryer and also on clothing labels.
How clear are these to you?
Do you immediately understand what those icons means?
There are definitely icons that everyone understands, think of well-known emoticons for example.
To help you with this topic I have 3 pros and 3 cons of using icons:
3 pros of using icons
Enhanced user experience: icons are an effective way to convey information quickly. If the icon is clear and well known, users can understand the meaning of an icon faster than reading text. This can possibly lead to a more efficient and user-friendly experience.
Internationalization: icons have the advantage of being language-independent. They can be understood by users from different countries and languages and backgrounds. This is especially beneficial for businesses with presence in multiple countries.
Space Efficiency: icons are compact and can replace lengthy text. They use less screen real estate and this is especially important for responsive design and mobile optimization, where screen real estate is limited.
3 cons of using icons
Ambiguity: icons can sometimes be ambiguous, leading to confusion among users. The meaning of an icon may not be universally understood. This can result in a frustrating user experience.
Accessibility: icons heavily rely on visual cues, which can be problematic for users with visual impairments. Proper accessibility considerations, such as providing alternative text or labels, are crucial to ensure that all users can access and understand the content. Especially with the new European Accessibility Act which will take effect in 2025.
Overuse and clutter: excessive use of icons can lead to visual clutter. Having a balance between icons and other design elements is essential to maintain a clean and user-friendly interface.
Advice
My advice is to not automatically assume that visitors understand icons and that text can sometimes be clearer. Please do your own research and experiment with this.
What’s your experience with icons?
Did you ever experiment with them?
And what was the result?
Curious to hear your thoughts.
Feedback
Do you have any feedback on this newsletter? Do you like it? Please give me your honest feedback.
If you have any topics you like to get covered, let me know as well (reply on this mail or on Linkedin)
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